GAME 1: Heat Outlast Bucks

The Miami Heat rode Jimmy Butler's playoff career-high 40 points to victory on Monday evening, overcoming the one-seeded Milwaukee Bucks by the score of 115-104.

Both Miami and Milwaukee entered the night riding four-game winning streaks to advance in the postseason, with the Heat sweeping Indiana and the Bucks quickly recovering from an unforeseen Game 1 loss to dispose of Orlando.

Unfortunately for Milwaukee, adversity struck once again this afternoon, with point guard Eric Bledsoe appearing on their injury report as a last-minute scratch due to a right hamstring strain. Nonetheless, FanDuel placed their odds of winning at 65%, giving the Bucks a five-point edge.

And in the early minutes, they did not disappoint.

By the conclusion of the first quarter, the Bucks had built a 40-29 lead, converting 15-of-24 attempts from the field (62.5%), and benefiting from a buzzer-beating 3-point shot by Brook Lopez.

However, despite any potential rust on display from Miami (who had not taken the floor since August 24), Milwaukee was unable to build on their early success.

The Bucks suffered from 19 turnovers in Monday's contest, and the efforts of perennial superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo left much to be desired, as he finished 4-of-12 from the free-throw line.

Although the Heat quickly caught fire defensively (no pun intented), Milwaukee relied on a steady diet of Lopez and Khris Middleton -- the duo combining for 40 points in the first half -- to maintain a slim 63-60 advantage at the break. Meanwhile, Goran Dragic dropped in 19 points to pace the Heat.

Nonetheless, the momentum had clearly shifted.

Miami's defensive gameplan had adjusted. The reigning NBA MVP was rendered ineffective in the paint. It was clear that the Heat besting the Bucks twice during the regular season -- a feat that no other Eastern Conference opponent can claim -- was no fluke.

After tying the game on numerous occasions throughout the third quarter, the Heat finally managed to claim a lead late in that period (their first since the game's opening stages), and flipped the script for a timely 92-86 advantage heading into the fourth.

And in crunch-time, Miami relied on the well-rested shoulders of five-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler to seal the deal.

Tonight's 40-point effort had to feel extra special for Butler, who recently described this match-up as "the biggest playoff series of his career".

Dragic (27 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast) and Adebayo (12 pts, 17 reb, 6 ast) provided secondary scoring for the Heat in their Game 1 upset.

Game 2 will be played on Wednesday, September 2 at 6:30 PM EST.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A's Win First Postseason Series Since 2006, Will Face Astros in ALDS

Image
Despite falling to the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series, the Oakland Athletics rebounded with consecutive wins in Games 2 and 3 to snag their first postseason series victory in 14 years, advancing to the ALDS for the first time since 2013. After digging a 3-0 hole in Thursday's decisive Game 3, Oakland rallied with four runs in the fourth inning to take the lead. However, their biggest hit of the afternoon came in the bottom of the fifth, with the score tied 4-4. In perhaps the most crucial plate appearance of his life, Chad Pinder stepped to the plate with an opportunity to defy history. Prior to this at-bat, Pinder had posted a 2-for-35 career mark with the bases loaded. However, on Thursday, he came up with a massive two-run single to propel the A's to a 6-4 advantage. And they didn't look back. Oakland now looks forward to a best-of-5 series with the Houston Astros to be played on neutral ground at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Needless to say, th...
Read more

Ranking Every Song From Paramore's "After Laughter"

Following the relative success of my rankings of Taylor Swift's " folklore " and Maroon 5's " Red Pill Blues ", I've decided to make these posts a semi-regular occurrence.  As I've followed Paramore religiously for over a decade, this one seemed like the next logical choice. Without further adieu, let's dive into Paramore's 2017 release entitled "After Laughter", an album that saw the band adopt an entirely new sound. 12. No Friend Three years have passed and I still don't fully understand what "No Friend" is, but I'm not convinced it's a rankable song. It sounds more like a dramatic reading of a poem drowned out by one of Paramore's jam sessions. Congrats, Aaron Weiss? In any case, please let me know if there's more I can give you. 11. Idle Worship Perhaps suffering from being linked to "No Friend" in such an inseparable way, something about this track is just a tad unsettling. From its ...
Read more

Why Quidditch Is Totally Ridiculous (Yet We Still Love It)

Image
On June 26, 1997,  Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling introduced the world to a remarkable new sport called Quidditch. In theory, Rowling's invention is fairly simple. For those who are unfamiliar with the game, I will provide a brief description of its rules.  Quidditch is played in a 7-on-7 format on flying broomsticks. Each team features three "Chasers" who attempt to throw a large ball (called the Quaffle) past the opposing team's "Keeper" into one of three circular hoops.  Every time the Chasers succeed in beating the Keeper, their team is awarded 10 points. Meanwhile, there are a pair of bat-wielding "Beaters" on each team who add to the chaos by clubbing two smaller balls (called Bludgers) at their opposition. However, the most important position on the field is that of the "Seeker", which is Harry Potter's position on Gryffindor's Quidditch team during his time at Hogwarts.  Each team has one Seeker who scours t...
Read more